When a wedding industry pro gets married, you know it’s going to be one helluva party. And that’s exactly what happened last August, when San Diego-based wedding photographer Dawn Parker married her police-officer beau Tommy Charles. The couple chose 440 Seaton, an industrial warehouse in Los Angeles’ Arts District, as the site for their nuptials, and added decorations to help “bring the outdoors in,” with loads of lush greenery, wood surfaces, antlers, and globe lights.

Tell us about the proposal!
Tommy took me to Balboa Park in San Diego and proposed in front of the botanical gardens. All of our family members were hiding and watching from a bridge across the reflecting pool.

What was the wedding-dress shopping process like?It was amazing. I found my Anna Campbell dress at The Dress Theory in San Diego. It was the first dress I tried on and I fell in love!

Announcing the special prize winners from our Graduation Art Gift Challenge! With graduation just around the corner, we’re looking forward to celebrating the class of 2016. Graduation is a large, important event in our customers’ lives, and parents and students alike will be looking for that perfect keepsake as a graduation gift for their daughters, sons, or fellow graduates. We looked to you, our talented Minted community, to create pieces that would help customers remember one of life’s greatest milestones. A huge congrats to all the winners!

Out of the Box Award
For the most unique and creative graduation art gift
“Done!” by Alisa Hall

Whether you’re a full-time creative entrepreneur paying the bills by doing what you love or hustling to build your dream job on the side, you have to get in the right mindset to really be boss in work and life. Because the truth is this: Blending work and life—doing what you love for a living—isn’t always easy. At times it can be downright scary, hard, and lonely. And getting in the right mindset can be tricky when you feel like a fraud (surely we’re not the only ones who feel like we’re faking it sometimes, right?) or close down shop and crawl under a rock. We use mantras, phrases, or affirmations we repeat to ourselves over and over again, to literally carve out neural pathways in our brains that keep us positive and productive. We’d like to share four of our favorites with you.

When we interviewed Lisa Congdon and her wife Clay Walsh on our Being Boss podcast, the full-time artist told us she gets through the roller-coaster ups and downs that come with self-employment by remembering that she chose her path. She reminds herself with every pressing deadline that she chose to live the life of an artist. It can be so easy to get wrapped up in your own daily grind that you forget you’re living the dream—and if you’re not, you get to make different choices.

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Looking for a last-minute St Patrick’s Day idea? We’ve designed the perfect little treat bag for you! We love decorating with rainbows and gold for St. Paddy’s Day and, since we all could use a little luck now and again, we loved the label’s message, “May luck find you.” Add a handful of chocolate coins or other gold foil-covered candy (like Rolos) and tuck it into your kiddo’s lunchbox or pass them out to coworkers to add a little luck to their day!

Animals are the heart and soul of many of Amy Carroll’s photographs, including “Staredown,” a portrait of a bull that is one of Minted’s most popular limited edition prints. The Michigan photographer has weaved a life centered around family, animals, and creativity. As she shows in this video and in her own words on her Minted Artist Store, you can find Amy traveling abroad or exploring her backyard. “Beauty abounds,” she says. “Take time to see it.”

8 AM-ish: We start our day roughly between 7:30 or 8 am each day. We co-sleep with our two-year-old son Mayer, so when he’s ready to get up, we get up and all start our day by fixing breakfast together. Our recent favorite is banana pancakes, which Mayer loves to help me make. I’ve been trying to be more cognitive of my time with my family and instead of hopping immediately on my phone or computer, spending quality time with Jeff and Mayer and enjoying a slower and more mindful start to our day.

The first day of spring (a.k.a. vernal equinox) is right around the corner—March 20!—and to celebrate the new season, we’re hosting a little brunch for some of our girlfriends. We love adding a handmade touch to any get together, so for this gathering, we’re making these simple clay garden markers. Tied around a cloth napkin with a beautiful seed packet, they’re the perfect way to add a little pop to your table setting. Bonus: They also make the perfect spring party favor—your guests will enjoy planting the seeds, marking them with the clay stake, and watching them grow.

St. Patrick’s Day is coming up—do you usually decorate for the occasion? I have to say that normally I don’t do much, mostly because the majority of decorations available in stores aren’t quite my taste. This year though, I decided to make my own oversized four-leaf clover—it makes a big impact while still being a bit more subtle than some of the gaudier decorations I’ve seen.

How did we narrow this list to 15? With Minted artists around the world creating beautiful Instagrams, it wasn’t easy, but we considered three things: compelling content, a cohesive look, and posting on the regular. This is just the tip of the creative iceberg—we want to hear your recommendations for other Minted artists to follow on Instagram. Share your suggestions in comments at the end of this article.

I know you’re doubting me right now. You read the title of the post and you’re not sure any DIY project could actually have only one step. But I assure you that this one does (if you don’t count buying the supplies as a step!). I’ve got the proof after the jump.

As an “M”-level artist in Minted’s CMYK program, Sarah Brown has 125 winning designs on minted.com, but her success didn’t happen overnight. When she entered her first challenge, the 2009 Seasonal Save the Date Challenge, she submitted what she describes “a few terrible designs” and says she was mortified by the scores. “That experience really motivated me to become a better designer and to improve my skills,” she says, in hindsight. “Continuing to enter the design challenges is also a great incentive to keep your work fresh and try new things.”

Here, the designer from St. Joseph, Michigan, shares insights about her experience as a typography-driven designer, and her a-ha! moments along the way.

You’re a self-proclaimed typography enthusiast. When and how did this happen?I’ve never considered myself a traditional artist—my drawing skills are pretty limited, and I’m generally too impatient for painting. Because of this, I struggled for a while as a designer to find my niche—there’s only so much you can do when you don’t paint or draw. After my first Minted winning design, “A Very Merry Christmas,” in 2010, it clicked with me that beautiful typography is an art form in itself. I received such a great response from that design from the community and consumers, and I began to focus on type-driven designs. I’ve tried to learn all I can about typography from books, online resources, and lots of trial and error.